Category: Articles

Just as the Passover holiday was underway last Thursday, a new wave of terror decended upon Israel. A barrage of rockets from Lebanon into Israel were launched on Thursday. Saturday night, a rocket attack was launched into Israel from Syria. Joy turned to fear as families fled their homes for shelters.

In a car-ramming late Friday in Tel Aviv, the alleged attacker rammed his vehicle into a group of civilians near a popular seaside park, police said. Israel’s rescue service said a 30-year-old Italian man, Alessandro Parini, was killed, while five other British and Italian tourists – including a 74-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl – were receiving medical treatment for mild to moderate injuries.

While travelling to Tiberias for a family trip, a terrorist shooting near a community in the Jordan Valley killed a family of three and turned into a frightening mob escalation. The Dee sisters, Rina (age 15) and Maia (age 20) were murdered. Their 45-year-old mother Lucy (Lucianne) was initially seriously wounded but sadly, died from her critical injuries today. The Dee family lived in Efrat.

Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI extends its deepest condolences to the famlies and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured and traumatized by these terror attacks. May the families be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem and may they now only simchas.

Source:
Lucy Dee dies of wounds three days after terror attack that killed her 2 daughters, by Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel, April 10, 2023

PM announces call-up of Border Police in wake of terrorist attacks, by  Reuters  and ILH Staff/Israel Hayom, April 9, 2023

 

 

Thousands of people, including at least eight government ministers and 20 Knesset members, participated in a march this afternoon to the community of Evyatar in Samaria.

“The government has yet to free itself of the shackles of foreign pressures,” responded Nachala Movement head Daniella Weiss, speaking on Kan Reshet Bet. “Maybe this march will be a form of therapy for the government, releasing it from the dictates of the United States and Europe. One of the downsides of having a right-wing government is that we don’t want to overthrow it,” she noted. “Who, on the Right, wants to return to the dark days of a government with Arabs and left-wingers?”

Despite the terrible wave of terror attack against Israel over the last several days, residents of Evyatar remain strong in their Zionist activism. It is only through the full force of the Zionist spirit, as demonstrated today, that the truth about Israel and what is legally and rightfully hers will prevail.

Source:
Thousands, including 7 ministers, march to Samarian community of Evyatar, by Israel National News, April 10, 2023

 

In March, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau signed an agreement on “cooperation in the field of study visits of organized youth groups. This was after the Lapid government last August canceled the visits of Israeli schoolchildren to Poland that were scheduled for last September through November. Israel announced that the two sides had reached a dead-end regarding content and security. Lapid, who served as both PM and FM, said the visits had been canceled due to the Polish government’s demand to intervene in the content that would be presented to the participating youths.

Now an agreement has been reached and is only waiting to be ratified by the Knesset and the Polish Sejm. The deal will, in fact, expose Israeli schoolchildren to Poland’s version of what happened under six years of German occupation.

This agreement has 100%+ potential to desecrate the memory of the Holocaust, any sense of historical accuracy, any notion of decency and responsibility. Worse than this is that it desecrates the memory of the Six Million. We can only pray that common sense prevails and that this agreement is swiftly voted down and without any debate or hesitation.

Source:
Israel Capitulates to Poland’s Demands to Expose Jewish Children to Holocaust Revisionism Industry, by David Israel/Jewish Press, April 10, 2023

 

 

The government authorized on Sunday a national guard sought by Itamar Ben-Gvir to focus on Arab unrest but held off on giving him direct command after political rivals voiced concern the force could become a sectarian “militia.”

Having recanted some of his youthful views, he joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition with an expanded law-and-order portfolio that he pledged would include a beefed-up national guard for use mainly in crime- and rioting-hit Arab communities. “It will deal with this exclusively. The police don’t deal exclusively with this. It’s busy with a thousand and one things,” he told Army Radio.

The cabinet said in a statement that the question of whom the national guard would be subordinate to remained open. A multi-agency panel has been appointed to submit recommendations on this and other issues within 90 days.

It’s one thing that Israel’s security forces are able to fight off Arab unrest. It’s a whole other matter when, in some cases, Arab unrest is treated with kid gloves while Jewish residents are treated like terrorists. Nevertheless, we would like to see the National Guard prove itself to be a new and vital component of Israel’s security.

Source:
Gov’t greenlights creation of anti-riot national guard, raising concerns, by Reuters and ILH Staff, April 3, 2023

Sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, that there was no decision on whether to continue with the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Galant, which Netanyahu announced last week, citing security concerns.

The ouster of Gallant last Sunday came after he warned of the danger to Israel’s security if the judicial overhaul would continue. It caused mass demonstrations, and ultimately resulted in the prime minister’s decision to halt legislation and allow for negotiations to reach a broad agreement.

However, the photo here shows Gallant and Netanyahu sitting together at an IDF ceremony just hours after Netanyahu said firing Gallant is on hold due to security challenges. The WhatsAPP group JewishNews24 is reporting that Prime Minister Netanyahu has reversed course and will for the time being keep Gallant in his post.

Sources:
Gallant dismissal on hold as Netanyahu allies cite security concerns, by Itamar Eichner, Moran Azulay/Ynetnews.com, April 3, 2023

Putting beef to side, Netanyahu and Gallant talk up army unity in joint appearances, by Joshua Davidovich/Times of Israel, April 3, 2023

 

 

A petition was submitted Sunday night to the High Court of Justice where the state asked for an extension for the Homesh Yeshiva until May 10. This is in light of the Knesset’s vote last month to repeal the section of the 2005 Disengagement Law as it applies to the sites of four former “settlements” that were evacuated just after the Gaza pullout.

For over 17 years, the Homesh Yeshiva has defied the ban that had existed on the entry of Israelis to these evacuated sites. It has continued to conduct classes on the Homesh hilltop in small modular buildings and or tents. It has survived multiple evacuations despite an HCJ ruling in 2013 which upheld the contention that the land belongs to Palestinians and allowed the Palestinian landowners to farm there.

While right-wing politicians and activists believe Knesset’s repeal of the Disengagement law is a first step in rebuilding the four “settlements,” including the Homesh Yeshiva, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he has no intention of allowing them to be rebuilt. But the Homesh Yeshiva still stands and continues to defy all odds.

Source:
State to court: We won’t raze Homesh now, month needed to decide, by Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post, April 3, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli politicians responded clearly and forcefully to US President Joe Biden’s criticism of Israel’s judicial reform and public statement that he won’t be inviting the Israeli premiere to the White House soon.

Key excerpt from Netanyahu’s statement: “Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was a bit more blunt in his retort, “Israel is not another star on the American flag.”

Source:
Netanyahu & Israeli Minister’s Respond Sharply to Biden’s Criticism, by Jewish Press News Desk, March 29, 2023

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have reached an agreement that the judicial reform legislation will be frozen for the time being and brought up again during the Knesset’s summer session to allow for negotiations on the reforms, the Otzma Yehudit party announced Monday evening.

At the same time, the two agreed that as a step to keep the peace in Israeli cities, the establishment of a National Guard under the auspices of the National Security Ministry will be approved at the next cabinet meeting. This Sunday Cabinet will approve Ben-Gvir’s proposal to create a civilian National Guard.

The proposal states that “the Israel National Guard will be used as a skilled and trained special force to handle, among other things, various emergency scenarios, nationalist crime, the fight against terrorism, as well as to strengthen governance in areas where this is required, within the framework of the roles currently held by the Israel Police in these areas.”

Minister Ben-Gvir said of the proposal: “A National Guard is a basic critical need for the State of Israel, without which we will not be able to protect the security of our citizens in order to fight terrorism, the phenomenon of protection, nationalist crime and restore governance to the cities of Israel.”

Israel’s many security forces, the IDF, the police, etc., are charged with protecting Israel’s citizens and yet we see so much of a double standard where Jews are treated like terrorists and terrorists treated with kid gloves.

Sources:
PM, Ben-Gvir agree: Judicial reform legislation to be frozen until summer session, by Israel National News, March 27, 2023

What will Ben-Gvir’s National Guard look like?, by Israel National News, March 29, 2023

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant Sunday, after Gallant publicly demanded the government freeze its judicial overhaul. Netanyahu made the decision Sunday evening, a day after Gallant’s public address regarding the judicial
reform plan.

In Gallant’s address he stated, “A victory for one of the parties will be a loss of the State of Israel. For the sake of Israel’s security, the legislative process should be stopped, and negotiations should be held.

Today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have reached an agreement that the judicial reform legislation will be frozen for the time being and brought up again during the Knesset’s summer session to allow for negotiations on the reforms, the Otzma Yehudit party announced Monday evening.

At the same time, the two agreed that as a step to keep the peace in Israeli cities, the establishment of s National Guard under the auspices of the National Security Ministry will be approved at the next cabinet meeting. Ben-Gvir said: “I agreed to remove my veto on the postponement of the legislation, in exchange for a commitment from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the legislation will be brought to the Knesset for approval in the next session, if no agreements are reached during the recess.”

The announcement comes as tens of thousands of right-wing Israelis are converging on the Knesset from across the country to demonstrate in favor of the judicial reforms and to demand that the government not freeze the legislation.

Meanwhile a poll conducted shows that 66% of the Israeli public does not want a freeze on the reform process. That’s more than 50% – a majority of those surveyed!! Will a break in the judicial reform process prompt a level of soul searching from the left and restore a measure of sanity to the badly needed judicial reforms process? As we’ve said before, something like that will only happen when the opposition sits down at the negotiating table to lay out their rational minded concerns. Until then, they only continue to hurt Israel – and themselves.

The latest update….no sooner than Netanyahu announced that he froze the judicial reforms process, Ben Gurion Airport announced it will resume operations. Now that there is a pause in the process, things are expected to return to normal in Israel. But for how long?? Netanyahu’s government is not giving up on reforming the judicial system, just postponing it to resume at a later date. It remains to be seen what will transpire between now and then.

Photo above shows supporters of judicial plan who came out strongly Monday.

Sources:
PM, Ben-Gvir agree: Judicial reform legislation to be frozen until summer session, by Israel National News, March 27, 2023

Netanyahu fires Defense Minister Gallant, by David Rosenberg, March 26, 2023

Poll: 2/3 of religious public oppose freezing judicial reforms, by Israel National News, March 27, 2023

 

 

 

Yossi Dagan, Head of the Samaria Regional Council, on Sunday morning, announced that he is moving his office to Einabus Square in the terror-infested town of Huwara outside Shechem.

Dagan addressed the residents of the eastern slopes of the Samaria mountains: “This is the third time in less than a month that a serious shooting attack has taken place here” noting the murders of Hallel and Yagel Yaniv and the attack on David Stern, plus an attack on two soldiers. “We feel abandoned.” He demanded the return of security checkpoints for the vehicles leaving Shechem, and not only for a short time just after the most recent attack.

While Arab terrorists continue to take advantage of security loopholes to commit terror attacks, there is no sign of change from the government to better protect Jewish residents.

Source:
Protesting Defense Ministry’s Neglect, Samaria Council Moves Its Headquarters to Huwara, by David Israel/Jewish Press, March 27, 2023